I’d never been to Peak Rail in Derbyshire before, partly because it’s a pain in the arse to get to from central Lancashire. However, I’d read that they’d got an event on, so I braved the windy A-roads and headed south.

The line is pretty flat and short (4 miles), and with a stop half way at Darley Dale between Rowsley South (the main operating centre) and Matlock, the 8F engine running on the day wasn’t exactly working hard, even with the long train it was hauling. From a photographic perspective, there wasn’t much to get excited about, but it was nice to take a ride along a line I’d not been to before.

It’ll soon join up with the mainline at Matlock – I think the plan is to slew their line to meet the Network Rail connection which now terminates right next to the Peak Rail terminus on the outskirts of the town centre. What will be good though is if they ever get permission to extend up the valley towards Buxton, which is some of the most spectacular scenery in the country. I’m not entirely sure if that’s going to happen, last I read the plans had been quashed by the council or something.

Nikon D700, Nikkor 28-70, 1/400 @F10, ISO400

This photo is one of the better ones I took. I’m not overly happy with the composition though – I wanted to get some background in it as there’s very few decent lineside locations, and this was the only one I came up with where the engine was working hard. I have cropped it, but I can’t quite get the balance of the picture right. In retrospect, I should have stood a bit further back up the line (to the right) as the angle is crap on this, but hey, visiting heritage railways isn’t all about the photographs!